DIY Sugar Cubes Recipe

Sugar is just more fun in cube form. But what's really exciting about DIY sugar cubes is that you can make them in any flavor you want, so consider this recipe just a starting point.

Try making rich cubes with demerara or turbinado sugar. Use vanilla extract for vanilla sugar cubes, or grind up some vanilla beans to make a more intensely vanilla cube. Mix a little orange blossom water, rosewater, or jasmine water with sugar, and you can have floral sugar cubes.

A few drops of food coloring, and you can have sugar cubes in any color. Make cubes with bitters or absinthe for quick Champagne cocktails.

Notes: If you are using floral water instead of plain water, you can do a straight substitution. However, if you'd like to use bitters or an extract (like vanilla or almond), use 1/4 teaspoon water and 1/4 teaspoon bitters or extract in place of the 1/2 teaspoon of water called for in the recipe. For colored cubes, you could split the water with food color in the proportion suggested above or use all food coloring in place of the water for very brightly colored cubes. I used 1 teaspoon candy molds to make my sugar cubes. You could also use small ice cube molds. Another method is to spread the mixture 1/4 inch thick into a small cake pan and score with a knife to make 1/4 inch squares, then let dry and cut into cubes.

Ingredients

Directions

1.

Combine the sugar and water until the texture is even. The sugar should still be crumbly, just slightly moistened. If it is watery, you have put in too much water and should add more sugar.

2.

Measure about 1 heaping teaspoon per cube and press the mixture down firmly into the mold. Let the cubes sit at room temperature overnight to harden, then remove from molds. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two years.

Special Equipment

Candy molds or small ice cube tray or cake pan

This Recipe Appears In

Marcia Simmons is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. While she has specialized in developing cocktail recipes and covering cocktail culture, she also writes about food, travel, tech and other topics.

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